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Le bracelet de la marquise
Also known as The Missing Bracelet in the USA
(1911) France
B&W : Short film
Directed by Louis Feuillade
Cast: Renée Carl [la mère], Henri Collen [le voleur], René Dary [Bébé], Jeanne Marie-Laurent [la détective], Fanfan (Alphonsine Mary) [la soeur]
Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont production; distributed by [?] Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont? / Cinematography by Georges Guérin. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film was released in the USA as The Missing Bracelet by Kleine Optical Company in 1911.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Jimmie is the only son of a poor widow. He secures the position of footman with a noble family and contributes to the support of his mother and sister. One of the opening scenes shows Jimmie on a visit to his home. He proudly turns over his savings to his mother and then hurries back to his quarters in the big mansion. One day the marchioness, his mistress, chances to leave a valuable bracelet in the touring car. It is found by the chauffeur. Instead of restoring it to the owner he puts it in his pocket. Search is made for the jewel by the marchioness and her household without avail. Then she decides to call in a detective. The servants are unaware that the new maid is the woman detective in disguise. From the outset the female Sherlock Holmes suspects Jimmie. One day, while the servants are at lunch, she attempts to examine the contents of a pocket in his coat, which has been placed on the back of a chair, near her seat at the table. Jimmie, who is sitting opposite, observes the act and raps her smartly on the knuckles of the offending hand with his table knife. The incident makes her more determined than ever to prove him the thief. Soon afterwards Jimmie pays a secret visit by night to his mother and sister. He is followed by the detective and the marchioness. Through the keyhole they see him delivering his wages to his mother and embracing her and his sister affectionately. Notwithstanding this evidence of filial devotion, the detective is convinced that Jimmie is the guilty one. The squalid conditions of his home strengthen her belief that he is the criminal. Jimmie is about to depart when the marchioness and the detective enter. He is astonished at the visit, but does not overlook offering a chair to his mistress. Then the marchioness charges him with stealing her bracelet and is strongly supported by the detective, who seeks to bear him down by an avalanche of words. Scornfully he denies the charge and manfully faces his accusers. The climax is reached when the detective attempts to examine the bedtick. Jimmie seizes her hand, thrusting her away from the bed, orders both women from the house. Particularly enraged at the detective, he seizes a rag-picking hook and beats her as she rushes out. The chauffeur, in the meantime, has been casting soft glances on the new maid, never suspecting her real occupation. Shortly after the scene at Jimmie’s home, the detective receives a letter from him, in which he declares that he is in love with her and will call to ask for her hand. She is mortified at the brusqueness of the man and receives him with no show of favor. He is about to leave in ill humor, when a sudden whim seizes him and he returns to the supposed maid. He offers her the stolen bracelet as a gift, after which she melts in smiles and sends him away happy in dreams of the morrow. Hastily she seeks the marchioness and presents her with the lost jewel. Simultaneously both women think of the wrong done Jimmie and at once set out for his home. They find him proud and distant in manner, and it is only after the marchioness shows him the lost bracelet and begs forgiveness that he softens and submits to her caresses. But the detective she keeps at arm’s length. No kisses from her for him. The only sign of relenting shown her is the offer of a single finger in a handshake. And then virtue is rewarded. Jimmie is appointed steward of the household of the marchioness, and his mother and sister are engaged as servants. The dishonest chauffeur, meanwhile, had been taken in charge by officers of the law.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: (unknown)
Listing updated: 8 May 2020.
References: Website-IMDb.
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